Water softener



C. R. NICKOLS WATER SOFTENER Jan. 5, 1960 ll Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled Sept. 28. 1951 Ewe/1507 Cheater f8. MFW/fi C. R. NICKOLS Jan. 5,1960 WATER SOFTENER l l Sheets-Sheet 2 :Tlllllll 9 O 3 m 5 5 u 4* m x 9mm" H 6 1 8 H 7 2 m m m 1 0 8 6 5 4 1 9 7 M H I L I H H I H W M WW W H U3 x 6 H 6 5 J O 1 6 8 0 0 1 J I M1231" Chester R- Nz'chols C. R. NICKOLSWATER SOFTENER Jan. 5, 1960 ll Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Sept. 28,1951 Jan. 5, 1960 Original Filed Sept. 28, 1951 C. R. NICKOLS WATERSOFTENER ll Sheets-Sheet 4 'AjQQ 12mm C/zwzZr/E/Vifa/fois C. R. NICKOLSWATER SOFTENER Jan. 5, 1960 ll Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Sept. 28.1951 1 7- w 5 6 u. 2 x C H0 1 1 C k 7 a m w 1 3 M4 Ji n M 1 [Mr Cheszez- R. Nichols Jan. 5, 1960 c. R. NICKOLS WATER SOFTENER OriginalFiled Sept. 28, 1951 11 sheets sheet 6 [My Chester Nichols Jan. 5, 1960c. R. NICKOLS 2, 1

' WATER SOFTENER Original Filed Sept. 28. 1951 ll sheets sheet 7 a a & w

o /g o; Q 1 m Q t ms 'g l r; :8 I 4 \Qnc.

(I) ||||H1i|||||||||||||m|| fzwf/nzz" Chester R. JSHdmZs Jan. 5

c. R. NICKOLS 2,919,805

WATER SOFTENER Original Filed Sept. 28. 1951 11 Sheets-5 8 Ia/zeszgkfiygg g Jam. 5, 1960 c. R. NICKOLS 2, 1

WATER SOFTENER Original File Sep 1951 11 Sheets-Sheet s [M Chester RNichols Jan. 5, 1960 cQR. NICKOLS 2,919,305

WATER SOFTENER Original Filed Sept. 28. 1951 11 s a t d 2 f i IUL 4.

I 414%0 Chester Nickels g C Q l (SER VICE) and the cams being adjustableangularly relative tozone United States Patent WATER soF'rENER 11Claims. c'i.210 141)'-"- This application is a division of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 248,714, filed September 28, 1951, whichresulted in Patent No. 2,799,294, issued July, 16, 1957.

This invention relates to base exchange water softeners and moreparticularly automatic and semi-automatic softeners, the softener hereindisclosed being one designed to be set into operation by thepressingofa.pushwbutton switch and to go through its complete cycle ofregenerationthereafter automatically.

In the softener of my invention, the Rinse is;.timed by the time ittakes to refill the brine tank with raw water after the Salt Draw orBrining,.the' flow of water to the brine tank for-refilling beingrestricted to a small fraction of that going to the softener forrrinsepurposes, whereby to insure a suficient total volume of waer foradequate rinsing of the bed in -the .s oftener re gardless of variationin pressure, inasmuch as the variations in pressure will affect bothrinse flow-and .refill flow alike. In order to operate in thisway lemploy electrodes in the brine tank extending downwardly to differentlevels and these are electrically connectedwith an automatic controlunit to accurately. measure. the amount of brine delivered fronrthebrine tank,..to the Water softener, using thebreaking ofv theelectriclcircuit incident to the dropping in the level of the brine inthe brine compartment from the one terminal toa point below theother-terminal to cause the shifting of. a-flow control valve from theSaltDrawor. Brining position to the Rinse position, and conversely,using the making of an electric circuit incident to the rise in thelevelof the water in the-brine compartmentat theend ofthe refilloperation to cause the shiftingof the flow control valve from the rinseposition back. to Service position.

An important object of the invention is to provide, in

addition to providing as a timing adjustment.for the rinse an accuratelyadjustable bleederor leak valve for adjusting the refill flow, means foradjusting the rinse flow rate, this latter means being a lug ontheoperatingwheel of the flow control valve that is adjustable along anarcuate slot so as to operate a limit switch in a predetermined positionof angularity of theoperating wheel and accordingly predetermine therotary adjustment-of the plunger of the flow control valve and therebypredetermine the port opening and rinse flow obtained.

Another object is to provide an automatic control mechanism whichpermits the selection of the Backwash time, said mechanism including atimer motor, the, low

speed driven shaft of which requires, says, 30 minutes, a

for example, to make a complete turn, and has twocams turning with it,each arranged tooperatexa limit switch,

2,919,805 Patented Jan. 5, 1960 Still another objectof my invention, inso far as the brine tank or saturator is concerned, is'to provide a unitdesigned to eliminate the well known objections to conventional brinetanks, by reversing the saturation operationandhaving the saltcompartmentabove and the brine compartment below, the brinetank'havingja brine concentrator drum in the bottom portion leavingample storage sp ace for salt above it, so that the supplying of salthasndrelation to the arnou'nt of water or brine the lower portion ofthetank and whenever there is any room for .additionalsalt it may be putin. Furthermore; whatever scum and sludge may separate out from the saltaccumulates in the sump provide in the bottom of the brine compartmentbelow the brine outlet, instead of being carried into the .waterconditioner or softener. This brine tank, while usable with any waterconditioner or softener, is of particular advantage when used inconnection with automatics or semi-automatics, because of the fact thatthereis no uncertainty in regardto the all important question as to thepresence of an adequate amount of salt; any time there is room foradditional salt, the operator can see that ata glance and supply it. Theinvention is illustrated in the accompanying draw:- ings, in which- Fig.'1 is a frontelevation of a complete water softener installationembodying the improvements of my invention; I V j Fig. 2 is a side viewof the brine tankand the auto:- matic control mechanism above it,showing the cover in section and indicating in dotted lines the openposition of the cover; I i V Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line3+3 ofFigi'Z, with the cover opened and showing the automatic controlmechanism in front elevation;

Fig, 4is a vertical section saturator; v

Fig. 5 is a plan view of Fig, 4 on a smaller scalewith a portion of theremovable cover broken away' to show the brine drum; K p

Fig. 6 is a detail on theline 66 of Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a plan view ofFig.6;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 corresponds to a portion of Fig. 6 showing the one electrode in araised position indicating how the volume ofSalt Draw may bepredetermined;

l ig. 10 is an enlargement of av portion of Fig. Zb'etter illustratingthe automatic control mechanism;

Fig. 11 is a front-view of the control mechanism in Fig. 10; v v

Fig. 12 is a further enlargement of a portion of Fig. 10 betterillustrating the timer motor and the drive motor;

Fig. 13 is a partial front view of Fig. 12; 4 H

Fig. 14 is. an enlarged front view of the brine tank through the brinetank or refill. controlvalve appearing in Fig. 3;

in so. far as the brine tank is concerned, and alsoa control mechanismoperable mechanically by direct float control instead of by theelectrodes and relay control of the preferred form;

Fig. shows a float mechanism in a conventional wet salt storage typebrine tank adapted to be used in a combination like that of Fig. 19 inplace of the dry salt storage type brine tank;

Fig. 21 is similar to Fig. 20 but shows the use of electrodes, and

Figs. 22 to 25 are diagrammatic views of the multiport valveillustrating the operation thereof in service, backwash, brining, andrinsing, respectively.

I The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts inthese views.

v Referring to the drawings and at first mainly to Figs. 1 to 5, thereference numeral 26 designates a water softener tank which contains abed of zeolite or other base exchange water softening material, and 27is a brine tank or saturator of improved design, the construction ofwhich forms the subject matter of my copending application, Serial No.248,210, filed September 25, 1951, which resulted in Patent No.2,805,922, issued September 10, 1957. The multiple valve 28, which isalong the lines of that disclosed in the copending applications ofCharles E. Russell and myself, Serial Numbers 35,404 and 181,822, filedJune 26, 1948 and August 28, 1950, respectively (which resulted inPatents No. 2,704,554 and No. 2,699,207 on March 22, 1955 and January11, .1955, respectively), establishes different systems of fluidcommunication between the softener 26, brine tank 27, a source of rawwater supply, a service system, and a drain in the softening operationand the several steps of regeneration, namely, backwash, brining, andrinsing. Inasmuch as the multiple valve 28 plays such an important part,a brief description of its construction and mode of operation isnecessary but inasmuch as it forms the subject matter of the copendingapplications, it is believed that the diagrammatic illustrations, Figs.22 to 25, will suffice.

The multiple valve 28 forms the subject matter of the parent applicationand comprises a body element 29 provided with a plurality of threadedholes for pipe connections, one of these holes 30 being connected, asindicated in Fig. 22, through a pipe 31 with the top of the softenertank 26 while another hole 32 in the same plane with hole 30communicates with the bottom of the softener tank through a pipe 33. Athird hole midway between the holes 30 and 32 and communicating with theport 34 has a pipe 35 connected thereto and extending from a. source ofraw water supply, as indicated in Fig. 22, and a fourth hole 36communicates with the service system through a pipe 37. A hole 38 has apipe 39 leading therefrom to the brine tank 27. Another hole 40 at theopposite end of the body 29 has a pipe 41 extending therefrom to thedrain. A smooth cylindrical bore 42 is provided in the body centrallythereof and there are chambers 43, 44, and 45 provided in the bodyannularly .of the bore and communicating with certain of the holespreviously mentioned. Chamber 43 opens into a chamber 46 in the end ofthe body inside the cap 47. A port 4% establishes communication forchamber 43 with the bore 42. Another port 49 connects the bore 42 withchamber 44, and still another port 50 connects bore 42 'with chamber 45.The hole 38 connected with the brine pipe 39 has a valve 51 for closingthe same, and the hole 40 is arranged to be closed by a valve 52. Valve52, as described in the copending application, Serial No. 35 ,404, isopened and closed automatically by the plunger 53 in different positionsof rotation thereof. The plunger is indicated generally by the numeral53 and is slidable and rotatable with a close working fit in the bore 42relative to the various ports 34, 48, 49 and 50 to establish differentflow circuits through the valve in the four different positions of theplunger 53 illustrated in Figs. 22 to 25. This plunger 53 carries thevalve 52 on its one end, the valve 52 having an actual practice alost-motion connection with the plunger and being spring-pressed in anoutward direction relative to the plunger so that it will remain seatedfor a short time after some initial retracting movement of the plunger,as fully described in the copending application, Serial No. 35,404. Afairly heavy coiled compression spring S is provided between the bodyand plunger at the opposite end of the plunger from the valve 52 tendingnormally to urge the plunger inwardly toward the service position shownin Fig. 22. So much for the general details of the valve 28 itself.

The operation of the valve will be outlined briefly after 1 havedescribed the means employed for transmitting endwise and rotarymovement to the plunger 53. Referring to Fig. 10, the plunger 53terminates in a stem 54 that projects from the cap end 47 of the bodythrough a bearing 55 provided on the cap 47. A block 56 is keyed to theouter end of the stem 54, as shown at 57, and is arranged to have rotaryand endwise movement communicated thereto by means of a yoke orbell-crank lever 58 that is oscillatably mounted, as indicated at 59, onthe operating wheel 60. The wheel 60 is supported for rotation onbearing 55 and is in the form of a gear, but in place of ordinary gearteeth, has pegs or pins 61 projecting rearwardly therefrom in uniformlycircumferentially spaced relation, between which the teeth of a pinion62 are arranged to mesh to transmit drive to the wheel 68. The pinion 62has a hub 63 arranged to be frictionally secured to the reduced threadedend of a shaft 64 by means of a nut 65. A drive motor 66 transmits drivethrough a system of reduction gears to a pinion 67 and this pinionmeshes with a gear 68 fixed on the end of shaft 64 opposite the pinion62. When the motor runs, the wheel 60 will be turned, but quite slowly,preferably so that it takes, say, about six minutes, for example, tomake one complete revolution. The purpose and advantage of such slowturning of the wheel 60 will be mentioned later. By merely loosening thenut 65, the wheel 60 is freed and one may turn the wheel by hand if itis desired to check the operation of the softener, as for example, atthe time of installation. The bell-crank lever 58 has a forked end 69,the fingers of which are engaged between the projecting ends of twocross-pins 70 that extend through holes in the block 56, whereby toprovide a pivotal driving connection between the bellcrank 58 and thestem 54. The other end 71 of the bell-crank 58 serves as a cam followerand slides in an annular cam track 72 provided in a ring 73 that issecured by means of screws 74 to the body 29 of the valve 28. In therotation of the wheel 60, therefore, the bellcrank 58 is moved relativeto the cam track 72 and is oscillated accordingly as the end 71 is movedradially with respect to the wheel 60 as it slides in the cam track 72.An arcuate cam 75 forms a part of the cam track 72 and is pivoted at oneend, as at 76, on ring 73 while a screw 77 carried on a lug projectingfrom the ring behind the other end of the cam forms an adjustablesupport for that end, whereby to permit varying the backwash flow bymerely adjusting the screw 77, the cam 75 being the portion of the camtrack engaged by the end 71 of the bellcrank 58 in the backwash positionof the wheel 60, and the multiple valve 28 having the cylindrical plugend D of its plunger 53 of such length and diameter and so arrangedrelative to drain port 40 that the rate of flow of water through thevalve is dependent upon the endwise adjustment of the plunger 53relative to the bore 42. In other words, the plunger 53 in the backwashposition is shifted approximately from service position and also shiftedendwise to the extent determined by the adjust ment of the cam 75, thecompound movement being obtained by 90 rotation of wheel 60, duringwhich the bell-crank 58 not only turns the plunger 53 by means of itsstem end 54 through the same angle but shifts the plunger endwise as aresult of the oscillation of the bellcrank by slidable engagement of itsend 71 on cam 75. The plunger 53, as stated before, is spring-pressedinwardly relative to body 29 and is movable outwardly by serviceposition.

means of the bell-crank '58. Hence, the end .71 ofthe bell-crank 58engages cam 75 under this same spring pressure. It should be clear frominspection of Figs. 22

, to'25 and from a study of the cam track 72 in Fig. 11

that the bell-crank 58 continues to hold the plunger '53 pulled out inthe brining and rinsing positions and that it turns the plunger throughan additional 90 in shifting 'from the backwash to the brining position,and then through an additional 45 or thereabouts in shifting from thebrining to the rinsing position. As will soon appear 'there is a slowrinse during which the brine tank is re- ;filled, the slow rinse beingin fact timed by correlating it with the refilling of the brine tank ata slow enough rate to provide adequate rinsing. Then, when the brinetank is refilled, the wheel 6-0 turns through another 135,

or thereabouts, back to the service position, and during the firstportion of that final movement, through ap- 'fPI'OXlIIlEtGlY 45 turningof the plunger 53, the ports in the plug and body, which during the slowrinse were only .in restricted communication are opened gradually intounrestricted communication for about a half minute for a fast rinsebefore the rinse flow is shut off by thefurther turning of the plunger53. The fast rinse, which is faster than any normal service flow rate,is considered highly beneficial because it affords a good opportunity toclear'out any traces of salt and released calcium which the slow rinseflow was incapable of removing,.thereby putting the zeolite bed in thebest possible condition for the resumption of softening. Analogous tothe adjustment provided at 77 is another adjustment aiforded by 'arotatably adjustable cam C which provides a variable of this equipment,because the throw of the cam C is more than enough to make up for suchminor irregularities as are apt to occur in the quantity production ofthe valves 28 and the other parts of the assembly, and the annoyance ofeven a slight leakage fromthe drain can be easily avoided by increasingthe rise of the cam C "relative to the end of track 72 enough to makethe drain valve 52 seat a bit tighter. The rubber gasket G 'onthe "faceof valve 52 compresses to allow the further movement needed for atighter seal.

The operation of the valve 28 can now be described by referring to Figs.22 to 25. Legends Service, Backwash, Salt, and Rinse are provided on thefront face of the operating wheel 60, as shown in Figs. 3 and 11,indicating the four operating positions of the valve 28. 'In the Serviceposition, illustrated in'Fig. 22, the incoming raw water from the pipe35 is conducted through port 34 in the body 29 and through passage 43 topipe 31 leading to the top of the softener 26. The raw water passingthrough the bed of zeolite in the softener is softened and soft waterleaving the bottom of the tank through pipe 33 is conducted back to thevalve, and thence to the service system through pipe 37. At the end ofthe service run the plunger 53 in the valve 2'8 is shifted to theBackwash position shown in Fig. 23 by endwisemovement and simultaneousrotation through 90, the bell-crank 58 giving this compound movement tothe plunger in the turning of the wheel 60, as previously described. ingraw water from pipe 35 is conducted to the bottom of the softener tank26 through pipe 33 and flows up wardly through thebed of zeolite tobreakup the bed and wash out the sediment that accumulated on top of it,in order to prepare the bed forthe salt draw. The Waste .watercontaining :thesediment is .conducted through pipe 31 from the top ofthe softener tank back to the valve,

In the backwash position, the incombottom of the softener tank.

.andthence to the drain throughpipe'41. Theregulation of backwash flowby adjustment of screw 77 determines the size of opening at the drainport 40 by determining ,how far the end D of plunger 53 is'withdrawn.The

backwash flow is accurately timed, as will soon appear, and at the endof the backwash the plunger 53 is turned another 90 to the Salt orBrining',position illustrated in forms part of the plunger and isaccordingly'set into operation when the raw water ispassed through theplunger to the drain. Consequently, there is entrained in the ejector Ewith this water going to the drain, water from the bottom of thesoftener tank 26 through pipe 33, and, inasmuch as the pipe 39 extendingintothe brine tank 27 isconnected through the valve and pipe 31 with thetop of the softener tank 26, brine is drawn from the brine tank intothe' top of the softener tank in an amount equivalent to the amount ofwater withdrawn from the In that way 100% saturated brine is suppliedformost efiicient regeneration of the zeolite bed. When a predeterminedamount of brine. has been withdrawn from the brine tank 27, the wheel 60is turned through about 45 to the Rinse position shown in Fig. 25. Inthe rinse position, the incoming raw water from.pipe.35 is conductedthrough pipe 31 to the top of the softener tank for passage downwardlytherethrough to carry the brine through the bed and rinse out releasedcalcium from the bed, the spent brine and waste Water leaving the bottomof the softener tank being conducted through pipe 33 back to the valveand thence to the drain 41. At the same time, a much smaller amount ofWater is bypassed through the valve 51 through pipe 39 to the brine tankto refill it, the purpose in the restricted flow for refilling being toenable timing the rinse by the length of time it takes to refill thebrine tank. During each of the steps of backwash, brining and rinsing,it will be observed that raw water is bypassedv to the service system37, so that the system is not completely shut olf during regeneration.

Referring now to Fig. 18 for a general understanding I wheel 60, limitswitches 83 and 84 operated by the timer motor 79, and relay 85controlling switches 86,87 and 88. When the push button 78 is pressed itcauses the motor 66 to run soas to turn the wheel 60 from the serviceposition in a clockwise direction. The wheel starts, stops when ithas'turned through to the backwash position, and remains in thatposition for the duration of the backwash. The switches 80-82 are spacedradially with respect to the wheel 68, as most clearly appears in Figs.10 and 12 and there are lugs on the wheel 60 in circumferentially spacedrelation and at different radii arranged to operate the three switches,one of these lugs being indicated at 89 in Fig. 10 operating the switch80, as at the commencement-of a regeneration. Theoperator keeps thepushbutton 78 depressed long enough for lug 89 to close switch*80,whereupon the push button has served its purpose and may be released,the motor 66 continuing to operate until the neXt lug on the wheel 60,90 removed fromlug 89 operates switch 81.

Operation of switch 81 serves two functions: It opens the circuit for.motor 66, causing it .to stop with the run. Now, the timer motor 79operates two cams 90 and lected angularity with respect to one another.

7 91 which are adjustably fixed on the shaft 92 at any se- The motoroperates this shaft through reduction gearing so that it takes30'minutes for the shaft to make a complete revolution.

Consequently, the length of the backwash may be anything up to 30minutes, depending upon the angular adjustment of the cams 90 and 91relative to one another. Cam 90, which operated switch 84 to an openposition at the end of the previous run to stop motor 79, closes thatswitch when the switch 81 starts the motor 79 running, and the motor 79then continues to run (namely, for 30 minutes) until the cam 90 againoperates switch 34 to the open position. According to the size of theincluded angle for which cam 91 is adjusted relative to cam 91} thebackwash time is determined, because, when cam 91 closes switch 83, thecircuit for the power motor 66 is closed and the wheel 60 is turned fromthe backwash position to the salt or brining position, where it stops byreason of a third lug 89' on wheel 6%, 180 removed from lug 89, engagingswitch 80 to stop the motor 66. In other words, switch 80 is arranged tobe operated by either one of the two lugs 89 and 89', disposed 180 apartand at the same radius with respect to wheel 69. The lugs for operatingswitches 81 and 82 are on other radii corresponding to the radii ofthose switches relative to Wheel 60, one of these two lugs being 2. lug99 mounted for adjustment in an are relative to wheel 64} in the arcuateslot 190 provided in the wheel, the adjustment of this lug in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 11, causing the stoppage of thewheel 60 sooner and accordingly reducing the rinse flow rate be cause ofthe fact that the ports in the plunger 53 are only in restrictedcommunication with the ports in the body 29. If the lug 99 is adjustedin a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 11, the wheel 60 willbe stopped later and in a position in which the ports in the plunger 53are more nearly in full register with the body ports allowing more waterto flow through the softener. In either event, the flow through thevalve 23 for rinse purposes is much greater than that used for refillingthe brine tank, because the flow for refill purposes must, as will soonappear, be restricted almost to a trickle in relation to the rinse fiowin order to prolong the rinse to the extent required for good and adequate rinsing of the bed, and such fine regulation of flow is madepossible, as hereinafter described, by the bleeder valve 97 adjustableby screw 95. This valve forms the subject matter of another application,Serial No. 415,764, filed March 12, 1954, now Patent No. 2,845,089.

Continuing with Fig. 18, in the salt or brining position of the valve28, brine is drawn from the tank 27 until the brine level drops from theelectrode )3 to below the level of electrode 94. In other words, thebrine maintains a circuit through relay 85 throughout the serviceoperation and up to and including the salt or brining phase ofregeneration. This is advantageous from the standpoint that it meanssuch a small expense in current consumed for the sizeable advantagegained, there being enough heat generated by this small current flow toinsure the relay and its switches remaining dry and free of rust andhence more certain of functioning properly. So long as the relay 85remains energized, the valve remains in the salt position, but, as soonas the brine level drops below electrode 94, relay 85 is deenergized andswitch 87 is closed to start the power motor 66, so that wheel 60 willbe turned from the salt position to the rinse position. The lug 99 onthe wheel 60 opens switch 82 to stop the motor with the wheel 6'!) inthe rinse position. The restricted communication between the ports inthe plunger 53 and body 29 afforded in that particular position ofrotation of the plunger determines the rinse fiow rate, as statedbefore, and to decrease the flow rate one adjusts lug 99 one way,whereas increase in the flow rate is obtained by adjusting the lug 99 inthe opposite direction. The rinse period is timed, as previouslydescribed, by timing the refilling of the brine tank 27. This timinginvolves the adjustment of a screw to restrict flow through a bleedergroove V on one side of a seat 96 provided in an elbow fitting 97 for aball check valve V. This fitting 97 is provided on the upper end of thebrine pipe 39 and connects it with the valve 28 by means of a pipe 98.The ball check valve V unseats to allow unrestricted out-flow of brinefrom the tank 27 through pipe 39 during the brine draw, but, when thevalve 28 is in the rinse position, the ball check valve V tends to closeunder pressure of raw water flowing in the opposite direction throughpipe 39 into the brine tank, the refill flow rate being determined bythe close adjustment of screw 5 relative to groove V so that it willtake long enough to refill the brine tank to insure a good and adequaterinsing of the bed in the softener tank 26. Usually, the screw 95 isused only to restrict flow through groove V However, it can be used alsoto unseat the ball V more or less, but that would, of course, permitmore flow than is permitted through the groove V when the screw isbacked up all the way. There is no danger of the ball check valve Vreaching any position during the brine draw where it would constitute anobstruction to brine flow, because there are lugs 96 projecting fromopposite sides of the bore in the outlet leg of the fitting 97 whichkeep the ball check valve V caged in the fitting in spaced relation tothe end of the pipe 98. It is important to note that with thisarrangement, changes in water pressure will not affect the rinsingoperation appreciably because if the water pressure drops from, say, 50pounds to say 25 pounds, so that there is half as much water flowingthrough the bed, that same pressure drop results in proportionatelyreducing the amount of water going into the brine tank 27 to refill it.Consequently, the softener is assured of a proper rinsing under allconditions. The advantage of the ball check valve V and screw foradjusting the fiow through the bleeder groove V as compared with having,let us say, a restricted bypass port regulated by a needle valve, isthat I obtain the desired fine restriction without involving the dangerof the restriction being clogged by dirt and sediment, because the ballcheck valve V closes one side of the groove V to define the restrictedbleeder port, and this valve V is unseated every time the valve 28 ismoved to the salt or brining position, and hence any foreign matter thatmight have collected between the ball check valve V and the groove Vwill be cleared out by the flow of the brine. When the water level inthe brine tank 27 rises to the point where it contacts electrode 93, thecircuit through relay S5 is closed again, opening switch 87 and closingswitches 36 and 88 so as to start the power motor 66 and turn the wheel69 from the rinse position back to the service position where lug 89opens switch 8t) and stops the motor 66, the wheel tit? and valve 28connected therewith then remaining in the service position until thenext regeneration of the softener is commenced by the operator pressingthe button 7'8 again.

It is important to note that the operations of backwash, salting andrinsing are independent of one another and merely follow one another.Consequently, any adjustment of or any abnormality in any one of theseoperations has no effect on the succeeding operation. Thus, the softenerstays in the service position until the circuit is closed by the pushbutton 78, whereupon the valve is shifted to the backwash position; thenit stays in the backwash position until the timer motor '79 closes thecircuit for the motor 65 to shift the valve to the salt position; itstays in the salt position until a predetermined amount of brine hasbeen drawn, Whereupon the valve is shifted to the rinse position, whereit stays until the brine that has been drawn from the brine tank isreplaced by raw water, after which the valve shifts back to serviceposition. In contrast to this, other automatic softeners have abackwash, followed by a rinse, which is controlled by a time clock thatpredetermines having the complete cycle occur in a given length of time.Hence, if drawing the salt requires more time than the designeroriginally figured it would, due to the water pressure available, theextra time required for the long salt draw would necessitate subtractingfrom the rinse time remaining and allowable in the overall time program.In other words, in these other automatic softeners any abnormalcondition in one step of the regeneration makes necessary some sort of acomprise in a preceding or a following step. With the present invention,there are no such dilficulties because only the backwash time ismeasured by the timing motor 79 andsufiicient leeway can be allowed toinsure an adequate length of backwash, regardless of anticipated"changes in water pressure. In any installation there must, 'of course,be sufiicient water pressure available to cause the ejector E (Fig. 24)to operate even at the lowest 'pressure, where the operation would beslower, but "even under such adverse conditions the valve will remain inthe salt or brining position until a predetermined amount of brine hasbeen transferred to the softener. In the rinse operation, assuming therehas been proper adjustment of the screw 95 for the brine tank refillingrate and proper adjustment of the lug 99 for the rinse flow rate, itfollows that any anticipated fluctuation will af- "fect these twooperations alike, and, if thepressure drops, 'the rinse rate dropsproportionately but the refill rate also drops proportionately, so thatthe time requiredfor the two operations to be completed isproportionately ex- "tended, thereby insuring that the total amount ofwater passed through the softener in the rinse operation is about thesame in each regeneration regardless of pressure fluctuation. I

While Ihave described a softener in which regeneration is started .bypressing a push button 78 it should be understood that this samefunction can be performed by a meter closing the electrical circuit whena predetermined gallonage of water has passe'dthrough the softener, torthe circuit can be closed by a time clock mechanism at the end of aselected time interval, or the circuit 'can'be closed by any hardnesstesting device When the water going to the service system falls below apredetermined standard as to hardness. In the foregoing description Ialso described the backwash as timed by the motor 79 according to thesetting of the dogs 90 and 91, but it "should be understood that thebackwash flow could be The housing 101, in which the power motor 66 andj'timer motor 79 .are mounted and in which the drive gear "trainconnected with the motor 66 is also housed, and

also the switches 80, 81 and'82, is, as shown inFig. 11, removable fromthe rest of the assembly, it being secured 'tothe ring73 by means ofbolts 102 for support with the pinion 62 meshing in the pin gear 61provided on the back of the wheel 60. This simplifies the problems ofservicing the softener,because, in the event of any electrical-trouble,the service man merely removes the hous- -ing 101 andreplaces it withanother sealed unit and sends or takes the removed unit back to thefactory without having tampered with any of the mechanism therein, andthen'it can'be repaired by those at the factory especially qualified todo such work. If the service man 'did not happen to have a replacementunit ready to in- --stall, the softener could be regenereated byhand'opera- "tion of valve28byturning the wheel 60 from service tobackwash and from backwash to salt and from salt to rinse and finallyfrom rinse back to serv- :ice. In like manner, the valve 28 may beoperated man- -ually"while the power unit is still in place, by merelydoosening the nut 65 to permit the pinion '62 'to "turn freely relativeto shaft 64, thereby leaving the wheel free to be turned manually.

A U-shaped sheet'metal housing 105 is secured toth top' of the fixedrear section 106 of the cover of the brine tank 27, as shown at 107, andhas a generally U-shaped lid or cover 108 closing the open frontthereof, the top 109 of which is of generally cylindrical form andoverlies the top of the housing 105 and is hinged thereto at the rear,as indicated at 110, so as to permit swinging the cover upwardly andrearwardly to an out-of-the-way position, as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 2, a handle or knob 111 being provided on the front lowerportion of the cover 108 to facilitate the opening and closing. Pipes 33and 37 extending horizontally from opposite sides of the body of thevalve 28 extend through holes in the side walls of the housing .105 andserve to support thevalve on the housing, the rear portion of the valveextending through a hole in the rear wall of the housing 105, as shownin Fig. 2, to further support the valve on the housing and preventturning thereof about the pipes 33 and 37 as an axis. The brine pipe 39,which extends downwardly from the valve through an opening in the cover106, as shown in Fig. 3, is also an important factor in holding thevalve steady. Of course, as soon as the various pipes extending from thevalve are connected up with the raw water pipe, service pipe and drainpipe in an installation, such connections serve to make the valve thatmuch more rigid.

The brine tank 27, while capable of being used in connection with a handoperated softener, ismost advantageous when used in combination with thepresent automatic softener, because it is designed to permit adding saltin whatever amount may beneeded and whenever the operator, upon removingthe removable front cover section 112, sees that the salt level is notnear enough to the top of the tank 27, in the vicinity of the dot anddash lineal; in Fig. 4. The present brine tank or saturator is of theimproved overhead or dry salt storage type forming the subject matter ofmy copending application, Serial No. 284,210, filed September 25, 1951,

, which resulted in Patent No. 2,805,922, issued September 10, 1957. Theconventional brine tank may be described as the wet salt storage typebecause in that design the salt is dumped into the bottom of the tankonto a gravel bed in which a slotted suction pipe for removal of brineis embedded, and the tank is filled with water nearly to the top. Withthat type there is no telling for certain Whether enough salt is presentto produce a saturated brine solution, and if there is not enough andthe tank is filled with water, one cannot then add the required amountof salt without beforehand removing an equivalent volume of water, orbrine of whatever concentration is present. As a result, softeners areoften put through the cycle of regeneration with brine of insufiicientconcentration and in that way softeners of otherwise good design andconstruction will, of course, fail to function properly and may besubjected to unfair criticism. Then tool, the wet salt storage type hasthe objection that the water collects dust and dirt much more readilythan dry salt, and there is moreover a tendency for crystallization ofsalt on the walls .of the tank upwardly from the brine level and down onthe outside of the tank, and this accumulation grows and gradually makesthe tank more and more unsightly and unsanitary. Furthermore, with thattype, due to the fact that the brine is removed from "the bottom, thenonsoluble materials, which in commercial softener salt run anywherefrom to 1% up toas high as 2%, settle to the bottom of the brine and areeventually drawn into the softener, and these ,non-' 11 matic softener,the operator must arrange to be there when the softener goes through itsregeneration cycle and pour in the salt as soon as the brine has beenwithdrawn, or else he must take out enough brine to make room for thesalt that he adds. In either event, the procedure is not satisfactory,because a normal brine draw for a single regeneration does not provideenough space to enable the operator to add as much salt at one time ashe would like to. On the other hand, if the operator seeks to avoidremoving any brine in order to add salt and still avoid causing thebrine tank to overflow, he would find that he could not add enough tomake up for what was used even in a single regeneration, and, as aresult, the brine present in the tank would necessarily be far below thesaturation required for good regeneration of the zeolite. in the brinetank 27, as best appears in Figs. 3 and 4, a bed of dry salt issupported in elevated relation to the bottom 113 of the tank in the drysalt storage compartment 114, only the lower portion of the salt bedbeing in contact with the Water, which maintained at the level indicatedby the dot and dash line cd in Fig. 4, slightly above the top 115 of anopen bottom drum 116 that is supported in slightly elevated relation tothe bottom 113 of the tank on legs 117 and provides therein the brinecompartment 118. An opening 119 is provided in the top 115, and a coverplate 120 is disposed over this opening and has feet 121 supporting itin slightly elevated relation to the top 115 so as to allow water toflow upwardly through the opening 119 and out between the top 115 andcover 120, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. The salt poured in ontop of the drum 116 fills the annular space 122 around the drum 116, thetop 115 being of an octagonal form and abutting the walls of the tankonly at the points of the octagon leaving spaces 123 between thesepoints through which the salt can flow down into the annular space 122.The water in contact with the salt between the bottom 113 of the tankand the line cd forms brine, and it being heavier than the water,settles to the bottom and enters the brine compartment 118 from allsides of the bottom thereof, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4,displacing the water or brine of lesser concentration upwardly and outthrough the opening 119, so that a natural circulation is set up, whichcontinues until all of the water has become fully saturated and is 100%brine. The cover 120 has a central opening 124- through which the brinepipe 39 extends, as shown, the pipe terminating above the bottom 113 ofthe tank so as to leave a sump in which nonsoluble materials may becollected and separated out from the salt, and removed from time totime, instead of having it drawn into the softener tank where it wouldsettle to the bottom of the bed and act as a binder and thus form anobstruction to backwash flow. A well tube 125 fixed to the cover 106extends downwardly through the salt bed and through an opening 126 inthe top 115 of the drum 116 and provides an enclosure for the electrodes93 and 94, which, as previously described, are used as feelers in theautomatic operation of the softener to stop the salt draw when the levelof the brine has dropped to below the lower end of the electriode 94,and to stop the rinse flow when the water level in the refilling of thebrine tank has reached the line cd. down to which level the electrode 93extends. The electrode 93 is not adjusted up or down relative to thecover 106, because the lower end of this electrode is disposed at thelevel of the line cd and, of course, the water level must always be atleast a certain distance above the top 115 of the brine drum 116.However, the amount of brine drawn per regeneration may be varied tosuit the different sizes of softeners and for that reason the electrode94 is slidable upwardly relative to the cover 106, as indicated in Fig.9, to permit measuring the distance B, which represents the amount ofbrine that will be withdrawn to the salting or brining 12 operation.This dimension B will, of course, be increased for larger softeners anddecreased for smaller softeners in accordance with a table which themanufacturer of the softener will furnish as a part of the directionsfor installation. The electrodes 93 and 94 are insulated from oneanother and from the Well tube by collars 127 of any suitable insulatingmaterial, these insulators being clamped in place by the tightening ofbolts 128 which also serve to hold together the two channels forming thetwo halves of the well tube.

In lieu of the electrodes 93 and 94, I may, as shown in Fig. 19, providea float well 129 alongside the brine tank 27' connected by means of apipe 130 with the bottom of the brine compartment 118' that is providedin the drum 116', so that the float 131 in the well tube 129 will moveup and down with the water level in the brine tank and shut off therinse flow when the level ca" is reached. The rod 132, extendingupwardly from the float, has projections 133 and 134 thereon, theprojection 133 being adjustable lengthwise of the rod up or downaccording to the dimension B previously mentioned. A double throw limitswitch 135, which takes the place of the relay 85 and limit switchesid-88, is thrown one way by the projection 133 at the end of the saltdraw to start the motor 66 to shift the valve 28 to the rinse position,and is thrown the other way by projection 13 3 at the end of the rinseflow when the brine tank 27' has been refilled, whereby to start themotor 66 again to shift the valve 28 from the rinse position to theservice position.

A similar result is obtainable with a conventional brine tank 27a with afloat 131' moving up and down in the top brine compartment, as shown inFig. 20, the lever indicated at 135' being associated with a switch likethe switch 135 to cause the motor 66 to be thrown into operation whenthe brine level drops and the projection 133 causes a downward movementof lever 135', whereby to shift the valve 28 from the salt position tothe rinse position. Then, when the brine tank has been refilled duringthe rinse operation and the float 131' has been raised to the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 20, the other projection 134' on the rod132' throws the lever 135' upwardly and operates the switch 135 to causethe motor 66 to run and operate the valve 28 from the rinse position tothe service position.

A further alternative is shown in Fig. 21 where a conventional brinetank 27a is shown having electrodes 93' and 94 provided therein in thebrine compartment, these electrodes being connected with the automaticcontrol mechanism the same as electrodes 93 and 94 of Figs. 3 and 4 tocause a shifting of the valve 28 from salt position to rinse positionwhen the brine drops to below the level of the electrode, and later tocause the shifting of the valve 28 from the rinse position to theservice position when the brine tank has been refilled to the level ofthe electrode 93.

A further alternative is to provide in conjunction with a pipe extendingdown into the brine compartment either a bellows or a flexible diaphragmsubject to increase and decrease in air pressure in the pipe above thelevel of the brine as the level rises and falls, and utilize thediaphragm or bellows to actuate a switch to cause a shifting of thevalve 28 from the salt position to the rinse position when the brinedrops to a predetermined level, and later to cause the shifting of thevalve 28 from the rinse position to the service position when the brinetank has been refilled to a certain level.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination, a brine tank, an electric motor operated valvemechanism, an open bottom brine con centrator drum of appreciable heightdisposed in the bottom of the brine tank into which pipe means for brineoutflow and water inflow extends from said valve mechanism, said drumbeing in open communication at the top and bottom thereof with theinside of the brine tank and supporting on the top thereof a bed of saltof substantial depth, and water level control means for keeping thereserve salt supply in the brine tank dry, said means comprising a highlevel electrode and a low level electrode in said brine tank at high andlow levels, respectively, relative to said drum and electricallyconnected with the electric motor of said valve mechanism, so as tooperate said motor to shift said valve mechanism from the salt drawposition to rinse position.

2. In combination, a brine tank, an electric motor operated valvemechanism, an open bottom brine concentrator drum of appreciable heightdisposed in the bottom of the brine tank into which pipe means for brineoutflow and water inflow extends from said valve mechanism, said drumbeing in open communication at the top and bottom thereof with theinside of the brine tank and supporting on the top thereof a bed of saltof substantial depth, and water level control means for keeping thereserve salt supply in the brine tank dry, said means comprising a highlevel electrode and a low level electrode in said brine tank at high andlow levels, respectively, relative to said drum and electricallyconnected with the electric motor of said valve mechanism, so as tooperate said motor to shift said valve mechanism from the salt drawposition to rinse position said brine outflow and water inflow pipeincluding a check valve that opens to allow unrestricted outflow ofbrine and closes to allow only a restricted inflow of water, so that thelength of the rinse flow is determinable by the time required for slowrefilling of the brine tank with a like amount of raw water after agiven amount of brine has been withdrawn.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2, wherein said check valveincludes a manual adjustment for varying the refill flow rate andaccordingly increasing or decreasing the rinse time.

4. An automatic control mechanism for a water eonditioner and associatedbrine tank comprising, in combination with a valve mechanism connectedby said pipes with said water conditioner and brine tank, and with aservice system and a source of raw water supply under pressure, and adrain, and arranged to be shifted rotatively through a series ofpredetermined positions, of an electric drive motor operativelyconnected with the valve mechanism, an electric timer motor serving totime the staying of the valve mechanism in backwash position, the sameincluding a manual adjustment whereby any portion of a total timeinvolved in a cycle of the motor may be selected, a program wheel whichturns with the valve mechanism, limit switches electrically connectedwith said electric drive motor and arranged to be mechanically operatedby projections on said wheel to open the motor circuit and therebypredetermine stopping points in the turning of the valve mechanism, anopen bottom brine concentrator drum disposed in said brine tank andsupporting on the top thereof a bed of salt of substantial depth, andauxiliary level controlled make and break means in said brine tank athigh and low levels with respect to the top of said drum and connectedin circuit with the drive motor and limit switches and dependent, firstof all, upon the valve mechanism reaching a salt draw position where adrop in fluid level in said brine tank proximately due to that positionof the valve starts the drive motor to move the valve mechanism to rinseposition, and, then, with the valve mechanism in rinse position the risein fluid level in said brine tank also proximately due to that positionof the valve starts the drive motor to move the valve mechanism back toits starting position, the fluid level rise being so limited withrespect to the level of u a 14 the top-of the drum to keep the reservesalt supply in the brine'tank dry; I v

5. A control mechanism as set forth in claim 4, wherein one of theprojections on the program wheel is manually adjustable arcuately ineither direction to advance or retard one of the stops ofthe valvemechanism and accordingly increase or decrease the rinse flow rateaccording to the position of the valve mechanism.

6. In an automatic water softener control mechanism, a valve mechanismconnected with a softener and a brine tank and adapted to be connectedwith a source of raw water under pressure, a service system, and adrain, a' motor for shifting the valve mechanism from a service positionthrough a series of positions including backwash, salt draw, and rinse,and back to service, a timer motor for timing the backwash, including amanual adjustment for selecting any fraction of a cycle time throughwhich the timer motor runs whenever started, an open bottom brineconcentrator drum disposed in said brine tank and supporting on the topthereof a bed of salt of substantial depth, level responsive means inthe brine tank of high and low levels with respect to said drums fortiming the salt draw in accordance with drop in brine level in saidbrine tank and for timing the rinse in accordance with rise in waterlevel in said brine tank during rinse, said level responsive meanspermitting water level rise in relation of the top of said drum only toa level to keep the reserve salt supply in the brine tank dry, saidvalve mechanism bypassing water to the brine tank for refilling duringrinse, and a manually adjustable valve for metering this refill flow soas to take long enough for an ample rinse.

7. An automatic water softener control mechanism as set forth in claim6, including a manual adjustment for regulating the flow rate inbackwashing.

8. An automatic water softener control mechanism as set forth in claim6, including a manual adjustment for regulating the flow rate in rinse.

9. In combination, a brine tank, an electric motor operated valvemechanism, an open bottom brine concentrator drum of appreciable heightdisposed in the bottom of the brine tank into which pipe means for brineoutflow and water inflow extends from said valve mechanism, said drumbeing in open communication at the top and bottom thereof with theinside of the brine tank and supporting on the top thereof a bed of saltof substantial depth, and a pair of elongated electrodes suspended inthe brine tank in spaced insulated relationship to one another by nutsadjustably threaded on the upper ends thereof, one of said electrodesbeing a high level electrode and the other a low level electrode at highand low levels, respectively, relative to said drum, said electrodesbeing electrically connected with the electrical motor operated means.

10. In combination, a brine tank, an electric motor operated valvemechanism, an open bottom brine concentrator drum of appreciable heightdisposed in the bottom of the brine tank in which pipe means for brineoutflow and water inflow extends from said valve mechanism, said drumbeing in open communication at the top and bottom thereof with theinside of the brine tank and supporting on the top thereof a belt ofsalt of substantial depth, and a pair of elongated electrodes suspendedin the brine tank in spaced insulated relationship to one another bynuts adjustably threaded on the upper ends thereof, one of saidelectrodes being a high level electrode and the other a low levelelectrode at high and low levels, respectively, relative to said drum,said electrodes being electrically connected with the electrical motoroperated means. said brine outflow and water inflow pipe including acheck valve that opens to allow unrestricted outflow of brine and closesto allow only a restricted inflow of water.

15 11. The combination set forth in claim 10, wherein said check valveincludes a manual adjustment for varying the refill flow rate andaccordingly increasing or decreasing the rinse time.

References Cited in the file of this patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS1,346,898 Kingsbury July 20, 1920 1,630,512 Ault May 31, 1927 1,768,184Wolff June 24, 1930 10 1,893,933 Dotterweich Jan. 10, 1933 10 StaegemannAug. 18, 1936 Zimmerman et al. Ian. 12, 1937 Wagner July 30, 1940Daniels Nov. 21, 1944 Daniels Sept. 10, 1946 Mueller Jan. 30, 1951Rogers Apr. 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 18, 1937 GreatBritain Nov. 4, 1940

